Eiffel Tower to be lit in colours of rainbow flag after US attack
The Paris City hall said the Eiffel Tower would be lit up in the US colours on Monday night following the deaths of 50 people at a gay club in Orlando on Sunday.
This time it's Paris that will show solidarity with the victims of a terror attack elsewhere in the world.
The Eiffel Tower will be lit up in the rainbow colours of the gay flag in solidarity with the victims of the shootings in Orlando, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted.
Paris stands with Orlando. Ce soir, @LaTourEiffel sera illuminée aux couleurs LGBT en hommage aux victimes #lovewins pic.twitter.com/t1rt8VfDhq
— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) June 13, 2016
The City Hall also raised the Stars and Stripes and the rainbow flag on Monday, with Hidalgo expressing her "compassion, solidarity and affection" for the American people after the massacre.
On Monday morning, Paris councillors observed a minute of silence for the victims of the attack.
Paris stands with Orlando #lovewins pic.twitter.com/lvmCFyBeAp
— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) June 12, 2016
On Sunday night, around 100 people gathered for a spontaneous vigil in Place Igor Stravinsky in the fourth arrondissement, not far from the city's gay quarter.
People stood draped in the rainbow flag, as one woman held a sign that read "To Orlando, we have love".
Ian Brossat, the capital’s deputy mayor for housing, was also at the vigil and tweeted that homophobia was deadly and needed to be met head on.
President Francois Hollande reacted "with horror", expressing "the full support of France and the French people to the US authorities and the American people during this ordeal", a statement from the Elysee Palace said.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls also expressed his "compassion" and "solidarity" with the American people.
"By striking the gay community, this terrible Orlando attack reaches us all," he wrote in French on Twitter.
Compassion et solidarité avec le peuple américain. En frappant la communauté gay, l'attaque effroyable d'Orlando nous atteint tous.
— Manuel Valls (@manuelvalls) June 12, 2016
The French football team also tweeted a message of support, along with a picture of a ribbon combining the colours of the US and rainbow flags.
"Sometimes football counts for little. Thoughts for #Orlando," the team which is among 24 competing at the Euro 2016 championships in France wrote, adding in English "Together we stand."
The planned light tribute at the Eiffel Tower recalls the global show of solidarity with the French after the jihadist carnage in Paris in November.
In the aftermath of the attacks, monuments from One World Trade Center in New York to the Sydney Opera House in Australia clad themselves in the colours of the French flag.
Due to conflicting reports, an initial version of this story incorrectly stated that the Eiffel Tower would be lit in the colours of the US flag.
Comments
See Also
This time it's Paris that will show solidarity with the victims of a terror attack elsewhere in the world.
The Eiffel Tower will be lit up in the rainbow colours of the gay flag in solidarity with the victims of the shootings in Orlando, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted.
Paris stands with Orlando. Ce soir, @LaTourEiffel sera illuminée aux couleurs LGBT en hommage aux victimes #lovewins pic.twitter.com/t1rt8VfDhq
— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) June 13, 2016
The City Hall also raised the Stars and Stripes and the rainbow flag on Monday, with Hidalgo expressing her "compassion, solidarity and affection" for the American people after the massacre.
On Monday morning, Paris councillors observed a minute of silence for the victims of the attack.
Paris stands with Orlando #lovewins pic.twitter.com/lvmCFyBeAp
— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) June 12, 2016
On Sunday night, around 100 people gathered for a spontaneous vigil in Place Igor Stravinsky in the fourth arrondissement, not far from the city's gay quarter.
People stood draped in the rainbow flag, as one woman held a sign that read "To Orlando, we have love".
Ian Brossat, the capital’s deputy mayor for housing, was also at the vigil and tweeted that homophobia was deadly and needed to be met head on.
Compassion et solidarité avec le peuple américain. En frappant la communauté gay, l'attaque effroyable d'Orlando nous atteint tous.
— Manuel Valls (@manuelvalls) June 12, 2016
"Sometimes football counts for little. Thoughts for #Orlando," the team which is among 24 competing at the Euro 2016 championships in France wrote, adding in English "Together we stand."
The planned light tribute at the Eiffel Tower recalls the global show of solidarity with the French after the jihadist carnage in Paris in November.
In the aftermath of the attacks, monuments from One World Trade Center in New York to the Sydney Opera House in Australia clad themselves in the colours of the French flag.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.